1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a doll's garment, a method for the manufacture thereof and to a play set comprising a doll and at least one garment therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, doll's clothes are stitched from fabric. This is impracticable for making clothes for dolls smaller than about 4 cm in height, due to the difficulty experienced in forming the stitches. Even for larger dolls, stitching may be difficult for small garment features. Additionally, fabric clothing may not be as elastic as alternative materials, causing difficulties in donning garments on dolls, and therefore, limiting the degree to which a garment may be shaped to the doll form. Furthermore, fabric clothing is less durable than alternative materials.
Flexible or elastic articles not designed for doll clothing, generally have limitations which render them unsuitable for doll clothing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,283,238 discloses a method of manufacturing sanitary elastic sheaths by a dipping process. The sheaths are comprised of bags having elastic bands attached at one end and may be used for items such as finger cots, thumb guards, rubber gloves and breast nipple sheaths. The item itself is not molded to fit to the shape of the form which it covers and requires the elastic band to secure the sheath in place. The bag-like nature of the articles does not allow for openings for arms and legs as is necessary in doll's clothing.
A molded latex article is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,206,533 for use as a girdle. The article is formed with a mesh-like network of multiple small holes to permit free breathing of the skin on which it is placed. An item such as this would not be suitable for doll's clothing primarily because of its perforated nature.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,153 discloses a method for making doll clothing and doll house accessories by molding a plastic film and thereafter attaching decorative elements. The elements are attached by moistening the film to which the element is to be attached. Providing detail in this manner may be difficult and time consuming, especially for small features. It also introduces a weakness in the article diminishing durability. Additionally, the method may limit the sizes and types of detail which may be added to the articles.
Various proposals have therefore been advanced for making articles simulating doll's clothing from alternative materials. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,774 describes fabricating such articles from plastic materials. Due to their degree of rigidty, the articles lack realism and appear bulky. In addition, once the doll is clothed, its limbs cannot be moved so that the articles are unsuitable for dolls with articulated limbs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,940 discloses a finger mounted document handling aid. The aid is tubular and comprises a plurality of generally parallel longitudinal cuts to permit enhanced flexibility. Such an article would be difficult to adapt to realistic-looking doll's clothing because of the longitudinal cuts required for adequate flexibility. Furthermore, without the cuts the article may not be flexible enough to bend at joints of an articulated doll.
Therefore, there is a need for doll's clothing that can be realistically dressed on, adapted and fitted to the doll. Additionally, there is a need for garments that have sufficient flexibility to bend where the doll bends. Furthermore, there is a need for doll's garments made of a material suitable as to appearance for doll's clothing, and that may easily be manipulated by children. Furthermore, it is desirable to manufacture doll's clothing with these characteristics in a size appealing to and fun for a wide age range of children.